With demand spiking amid closed stations and home generators keeping the lights burning and the refrigerators running; Louisiana is in a fuel crunch.
“The irony here is it’s 2/3rds of the state’s refining capacity that’s down. But the state of Louisiana provides fuel for the rest of the country,” Governor John Bel Edwards states. “And now we need the rest of the country to give up little bit of their fuel to comeback to Louisiana so we can deal with his hurricane and get our recovery started the way that it should.”
Edwards has been burning up the phone lines communicating with President Biden about getting gas into the state:
“We’ve had three conversations, all of them have dealt with fuel already. And so I fully expect that will happen before he ever comes [to Louisiana on Friday]. And what we will be doing instead is announcing the relief that is en-route. I guess that’s my expectation and certainly my hope.”
There has been progress made on one front, getting more diesel into the state:
“We are working with our federal partners, with the business community with the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, you name it, to try and identify bulk fuel that can be brought in. We did have a little win today. We got a waiver approved upon our request by the IRS. So we’re going to be able to use off road or red-dye diesel.”